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It looks as though the Christopher Handley virtual child porn case is now over. From a Department of Justice Press release:
Christopher Handley, 39, of Glenwood, Iowa, pleaded guilty today in Des Moines, Iowa, to possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and mailing obscene material.
According to court documents, in May 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intercepted a mail package coming into the United States from Japan that was addressed to Handley. Inside the package was obscene material, including books containing visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, specifically Japanese manga drawings of minor females being sexually abused by adult males and animals. Pursuant to a search warrant, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) searched and seized additional obscene drawings of the sexual abuse of children at Handley’s residence in Glenwood. Handley was indicted by a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Iowa in May 2007.
Pursuant to his plea agreement, Handley today pleaded guilty to one count of possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1466A(b)(1), which prohibits the possession of any type of visual depiction, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, that depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct that is obscene.
Handley also agreed to plead guilty to one count of mailing obscene material and to forfeit all seized property. Handley faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a three-year term of supervised release.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Peyton Gaumer and Elizabeth M. Yusi of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The case is being investigated by USPIS, ICE and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. In addition, the FBI’s Language Services Section has provided significant assistance in the prosecution.
I realize that the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) was assisting in Handley’s defense because they thought this case somehow pertained to comic books in general, but I have never agreed with this position. In a written press release, they stated that they spent $2,400 in research pertaining to the Handley case.
If I believe that the medium is just another instrument for crafting stories, one that is just as important and significant as other mediums, if I’m to believe that it is capable of creating intelligent works of art, I have to believe it can also be used to create obscenity. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be giving the medium the respect I think it deserves.
The argument that they are “just comics” falls flat in my opinion.
Lee B.
/ May 21, 2009Yikes- I know that the Japanese anime can be some pretty graphic stuff when it comes to violence and gore, sometimes worse than movies in the detail… Can’t imagine the nastiness of the sort of books he was getting. Would be nice to see the rest of the story say “and Japanese authorities are working towards finding the author”.
Rick
/ May 21, 2009@Lee B.: I think the fact that he had to order them directly from Japan says a lot. That is, they cannot even be found here in the states. There doesn’t seems to be a shortage of manga porn here, why would anyone need to special order it from Japan? My guess is that it’s unlike anything else that can be found here.
Joe
/ May 23, 2009I guess I am a little confused. Where, exactly, is the exploitation here? This whole case appears to be nothing more than moral policing based on highly flawed methods such as the Miller test.
I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but eliminating obscene material from the country does NOTHING to stop actual child abuse behind closed doors (which by the way is mostly committed by family members). This “out of site, out of mind” mentality of the moral majority makes me sick. If someone wants to read loli pron while doing lines of coke in the privacy of their own home while not involving/hurting anyone else, I’m fine with that in the same way that I am fine with two gay guys getting married.
Basically…the only people that really care about this are bible thumping cross swinging idiots.
Babbo
/ May 29, 2009For the sake of accuracy Rick, in Handley’s defence CBLDF hasn’t argued that Japanese comics aren’t capable of obscenity because of any characteristic of the medium; more to the point, CBLDF challenges the inherent broadness of the charge of obscenity in light of the letter and spirit of the First Amendment.
The Handley case isn’t simply a matter of collecting evidence and proving whether or not the accused crossed an established legal line. Obscenity cases are more a matter of the law itself: Does the court find that the law condemns the behavior of the accused? This is how the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund views the scenario at the very least, and you have to admit that the circumstances make the case much more delicate than your average episode of CSI.
Rick
/ May 29, 2009@Babbo: For the sake of accuracy? The question was whether or not Charles Handley brought obscene material into the United States. It never was about whether or not such a thing as obscenity even exists. It exists. Even under the First Amendment, it exists.
The only question was whether or not Charles Handley brought obscene materials into the country. He’s now admitted to it, so I guess he did.
Nobody ever mentions exactly what specific manga titles he ordered. They never say where he ordered them from. Why is that? They only say that they were readily available in Japan. I personally have a very hard time defending something I have not seen, especially when it reportedly involves the depiction of child rape.